Means for raising water from mine-shafts, &amp;c.



No. 628,2I9. Patented luly 4, |899.

R. E. BRWNE. MEANS FUR BAISING WATER'FROM MINE SHAFTS, 81.0.

(Application led 10, 1899.)

v(No Model.)

Tu: mams pzrsns co. wo'mumo.. WASHINGTON, u c.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OEEICE.

ROSS EGERTON BROVVNE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO\ THE FRASER & CHALMERS, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MEANS FOR RAISING WATER FROM MINE-SHAFTS, 80C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,219, dated July 4, 1899. Application filed January l0, 189i?. Serial No. 701,768. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that LRoss EGERTON BEowNn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of San Francisco, California, but temporarily residing in London, England, have invented Improved Means for Raising Vater from Mine-Shafts or other Places, of which the following is a specification.

In sinking a pit or shaft into the ground ro the surface or other water which collects therein is now generally lifted and delivered to the surface by various kinds of pumps, which the miner commonly calls sinkingpumps. Usually these are suction and force pumps with reciprocating pistons and plungers operated by steam, compressed air, electric motors, or by rods actuated by machinery on the surface. The pump is usually placed in the shaft, generally fifteen to twenty-live 2o feet above its bottom7 and draws the water by suction through a strainer and suction-hose to the pump-cylinder, whence the reciprocating piston or plunger forces it upward by direct action to any desired elevation. It is not practicablevto provide more than a very small pump in the bottom of the shaft while the work of sinking is in progress, and the pump must adapt itself to drafts of water, mud, sand, small rock, fragments, and air 3o without serious interference with its operation. The pump must be lowered from time to time as the work progresses, the powersupply and water-discharge pipes must be extendedpand new connections made, and atv times of breaking the rock in the shaft-bot tom by blasting the pump must either be lifted away to a safe point or protected by a bulkhead of heavy timbers.

There result frequently serious losses of 4o time in handling the pump, packing, and repairingitsrapidly-wearing parts. Insinking a deep shaft in wet ground the extraction of the water is notoriously a source of material delay.

After a shaft is completed and a deep pump provided bailing-tanks are frequently used to lower into the water and hoist it to the surface; lbut during the progress of the sinking of the shafta sufficientsump to dip from cannot be provided.

vvacuum or partial vacuum therein.

vAccording to the present inventionit is proposed to utilize what ymay be called a cornbination of the vacuum system of pumping with the hailing system of raising the water, and in order that the invention may be clearly 5 5 understood reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which indicates one form of apparatus for carrying the invention into practice.

In said drawing, A indicates a vacuumtank or bailing vesselk provided with a suction-valve B, suction-hose O, and strainer and foot-valve D, the tank being also provided with a discharge-valve E, operated by a rod F and lever G in a manner 4hereinafter de- 65 scribed. 'Vacuum' is produced in the tank A by means of a vacuum-producer Hl on the surface, which is connected with the tank by vacuum-pipe I and coupling J. The tank travels on guides in the shaft and is raised 7c and lowered in the ordinary way by rope K 'and motor L.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The vacuum-tank is lowered to a point `near to the bottom of the shaft, and the water is drawn into the tank by virtue of the When the tank is filled or partially filled with water, the coupling J is disconnected and the tank is hoisted to the surface to the position shown 8o by dotted lines, when the outer end of lever G will come in contact with stationary trip M and open valve E, permitting the discharge of the lwater through trough- N, after which the tank, emptied of its water, is returned to the bottom of the shaft and reconnected with the vacuumpipe, and the operation is re peated.

The coupling .I may be connected with the vacuum-pipe either rigidly or preferably by means of a flexible hose and is most suitablyv constructed to cut off the air-intake when uncoupled and open the same when coupled. As the shaft increases in depth fresh lengths of rigid pipes I wouldpbe added.

Ordinary dipping and dumping tanks are of course well known; but these are not adapted for use except there is a considerable depth of water in the shaft, and consequently they cannot keep a shaft even comparatively roo dry, while directacting pumps are subject to much wear when dealing with water, mud, sand, and the like, while the present apparatus will lift air, water, mud, and sand with less than the usual amount of wear and tear, and it also necessitates less labor in handling and repairing, is more easily kept in order, and is more reliable in its action than the sinking-pumps in ordinary use.

In an apparatus for raising water from mines or shafts, the combination of a frame at the head of a shaft, a tank supported upon the frame adapted to be raised and lowered in the shaftsaid tank having a suction-pipe, and a Valve-controlled discharge-opening at ROSS vEGrERTON BROVVNE.

Nitn esses:

PHILIP M. JUSTICE, ALLEN PARRY JoNEs. 

